


Shy Attraction

by ricochet7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29419290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ricochet7/pseuds/ricochet7
Summary: In 5th year, Harry initially has his eyes set on Cho. But, as the year progresses, certain events leads to him noticing Ravenclaw!Hermione. Will he ever gather up the courage to let Hermione know?
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Harry Potter
Comments: 17
Kudos: 63
Collections: HMS Harmony Discord Valentine's Day Contest 2021





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [HMS_Harmony_Discord_VDay_Contest_2021](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HMS_Harmony_Discord_VDay_Contest_2021) collection. 



> This is an entry for HMS Harmony Discord's 2021 Valentine's Day Challenge! 
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Gryffindor!Harry tries to get Ravenclaw!Hermione to go on a date with him and potentially be his girlfriend. He does various things such as giving Hermione her favorite flowers (how did he know?), leaving small but significant gifts, dedicating a quidditch match to her (optional), and spends more time with her even if she says she doesn't like it but she secretly does. Hermione tries to find her secret admirer but to no avail. The day before Valentine's, she receives an anonymous note telling her to meet at the quidditch pitch.
> 
> You decide what happens next and how they get together.
> 
> This is an AU where James and Lily died but Voldemort was fully killed by his rebounding spell. There are still ex-deatheaters roaming around, so Harry is still a famous figure in some danger.
> 
> Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the HP universe, I am just playing around within it.

Chapter One

_Late September, evening. The Great Hall_

"Almost done?" Ron asked as he shoveled a final spoonful of food into his mouth.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What's the rush? Really cutting dinner short to finish Umbridge's essay?"

"Of course not," Ron snorted, "Wanted to go over our strategy for the match against Ravenclaw."

Harry glanced over to the Ravenclaw table, scanning for a glimpse of the Ravenclaw Seeker, Cho Chang. She was talking animatedly to Roger Davies, the length of her smooth black hair falling flawlessly behind her. He'd really only noticed how pretty she was after playing several matches against her, and now he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. A sharp jab to his side startled him.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about." Ron sniggered.

"Piss off, mate. I haven't lost a match against her yet," Harry retorted.

"We'll be lucky to continue that at this rate. C'mon, let's head up," Ron replied.

Shaking his head, Harry took a final sip of his pumpkin juice and started the trek up to their dormitory with Ron. Halfway to the third floor, a sneering voice echoed through the castle's corridors. Harry exchanged glances with Ron, and they hurriedly followed the voice which they'd recognize anywhere.

"So, Longbottom - " Malfoy drawled, his wand out and pointing towards a cowering Neville. Harry turned the corner and burst into view, wand in hand, with Ron closely behind him.

"Malfoy! Wand down and leave!" Harry ordered dangerously, red sparks flying out of the tip of his phoenix feather wand. Malfoy, outnumbered without his goons, pocketed his wand and strolled away, whistling a merry tune. With a murderous look on his face, Ron took aim at Malfoy's retreating form and opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't," Neville said, his hand shaking as he pocketed his wand. "It's not worth it, I'm fine, anyway. Malfoy always does that, harassing students in the corridor and trying to scare them."

Harry frowned. "We can't let him and his goons keep getting away with it. How long has this been going on, Neville?"

"He's always been a git to me, but he's never drawn his wand before this term began." Neville said dejectedly. "Not that I could ever beat him in a duel. And now with that hag Umbridge teaching Defence, it doesn't look like I'll be learning anything useful."

"Wait, Harry - you're great at Defence, couldn't you give Neville a couple of pointers? And... maybe even teach me a couple of tricks?" Rona asked excitedly, smiling at his own genius. Neville looked at Harry, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.

"Well, I'm really not that great of a teacher" Harry started.

"Rubbish," Ron said, "Everyone knows you're the best at the practical stuff. There's no way we can just let Malfloy go waltzing around and bullying people for fun." Neville nodded fervently.

Harry sighed, weighing his options. He definitely wouldn't match up to the likes of Lupin or Moody, but Ron was right. They had to take a stand against Malfloy and the Slytherins. "Alright, fine we can try it out. Let's head in here," Harry said, motioning towards the nearest empty classroom.

"Well, er, I suppose we can start with _expelliarmus_ " Harry said once they were positioned inside the classroom. "Taking away your opponent's wand will make them unable to do anything in most situations. It also doesn't cause any physical harm, making it one of the safest Defence spells."

"C'mon, we learned this years ago," Ron complained, "can we try something cooler?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Well, since you're an expert, disarm me!" Ron grunted, and they moved to the front of the classroom, facing each other. Harry held his wand firmly, concentrating hard on the connection between his hand and the phoenix feather wand.

" _Expelliarmus_ " Ron shouted. A jet of silver light shot out and hit Harry. His wand gave a feeble jerk, but remained in his hand. Ron's face transformed into one of bewilderment and awe.

"It's true, this spell is basic to learn, but there's many ways to defend against it, and ways to combat those defences too. _Expelliarmus_!" Harry said, and caught Ron's wand with ease as it soared past Neville's head.

"Neville, get up here, I'll have you two practice against each other." Harry said. Neville stood to face Ron as Harry handed his wand back. Harry began lecturing, "Now, Neville, _expelliarmus_ is all about the wand, not the wizard, so concentrate on the opponent's wand and not their body..." 

_The Library_

Hermione Granger's quill scratched along the bottom of her twenty inch parchment before finally being slammed unceremoniously on the tabletop. She gave a huge sigh. What was wrong with her? She thought. Being in the library, in her cushy chair farthest from the entrance and learning from her homework was usually an exciting part of her day. Except, she learned exactly nothing from this piece of homework. She glared angrily at her textbook. Slinkhard was even worse than Lockhart, she decided. At least Lockhart was entertaining to read. Of course, it wasn't Slinkhard's fault, it was Professor Umbridge and her simpering smile that had intentionally stripped their entire fifth year of their Defence education. Ignoring the practical portion of Defence was like learning to walk from a textbook. In other words, impossible. She shook her head; it would almost be time for her patrols as prefect, and she didn't want to be late.

She neatly packed her essay into her bag and then slung it over her shoulder as she walked back toward the Ravenclaw tower. She went up a flight of stairs and turned left onto a corridor, completely lost in thought of how she could supplement her Defence education, when a loud bang startled her.

" _Expelliarmus_! _Expelliarmus_! I did it! I finally did it!" a voice coming from the classroom on her left sounded. She sighed. Her patrols hadn't even officially begun and she'd already found students dueling in the classrooms. Adjusting the badge on her robes and readying her wand, she pulled open the door and stepped inside.

"Stop! Dueling is strictly prohibited outside of specific class sanctioned activities" she ordered, zoning in on the three boys inside the classroom. Three boys, she recognized a second later, as her Gryffindorian friends. Well, perhaps acquaintances would be a better term. She knew she wasn't the most popular girl like Cho, who had boys from every house wrapped around her finger, but having to reprimand her only allies outside Ravenclaw wouldn't bode well for her.

"We weren't dueling!" Ron asserted. "We were just - er - practicing!" Hermione snorted. Did he really think he'd get away with that excuse? Crookshanks could have come up with a better reason.

"It's true," Neville said, "Malfloy was harassing me so I asked Harry to teach me some ways to defend myself. With that hag Umbridge, there's no way I'll learn anything useful." Hermione sympathized. Neville was a nice boy, and Malfloy was notorious for focusing on Harry and him.

"Yeah, I was showing them _expelliarmus_ , which, as you know, is completely harmless, so no one could have gotten hurt," Harry offered. Hermione finally lowered her wand, glaring at each of the boys. Suddenly, her eyes caught on a badge on Harry's robes and she remembered.

"Harry! You're a prefect! You're supposed to follow the rules and be a model for others to learn from!" Hermione shot another glare at the dark haired boy.

"Sorry Hermione, I know," Harry said, a puppy eyed look forming on his face. "I just wanted to help Neville and Ron now that the Umbridge woman won't let us learn anything. Are you really going to dock points from your friends?" Hermione felt butterflies in her stomach at the look Harry gave her. _Get it together, Granger._ She bit her lip, thinking. It was true: Umbridge had really punched a hole in her education, and here they were, taking matters into their own hands. MAybe if they - no, maybe Harry would also agree to teach her? He was top of the class in Defence practicals and he did say they were friends. Her heart gave a hopeful squeeze at that thought. _Get it together, Granger._

"Well, why are you only teaching Neville and Ron? Could you also teach m- others who are interested?" Hermione asked as her expression relaxed.

"Yeah Harry, think about it - we could get the rest of the Gryffindors and any Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs who are interested so we know how to defend ourselves" Ron suggested again, excitement creeping back into his voice.

"I dunno about that, with just you two I'm fine but for that many people I'm not that great of a teacher," Harry replied.

"Rubbish," Hermione said. "You're the best in our class! You always master the spells in Defence the fastest, you come up with variations in class that take real creativity, you've never lost a duel before, you - " Hermione cut herself off, looking slightly embarrassed. She hadn't meant to start rambling over Harry, but he was just so... accomplished at Defence. Hopefully none of them had noticed.

"You really think so?" Harry asked hopefully. She rolled her eyes.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Yes, I think so," she replied.

"Well I guess we can give it a shot and see who's interested," Harry replied. He checked the time. "We should really get back to our dorms now, curfew is in ten minutes."

She nodded in agreement and turned to leave. As she exited the door, she looked over her shoulder on a whim and saw a pair of green eyes locked to hers before quickly looking away.

_The next morning. The Great Hall._

"Well, what do you reckon?" Ron asked as he piled pancakes onto his plate.

Harry gave a noncommittal shrug. He had thought about Hermione's proposal of starting some type of Defence group quite a bit. Well, he had decided fairly quickly to try and help his fellow classmates with Defence. Even if he wasn't the greatest teacher, it was, as Ron and Neville had suggested, better than anything Umrbdige would ever offer.

What _had_ stayed on his mind was a certain brown-haired witch. He glanced over at the Ravenclaw table, searching for her trademark soft curls. She had changed over the summer: she had carried herself with more authority last night, and - did she do something with her hair? His daydreams kicked into overdrive as he imagined running his hands through her hair and inhaling her sweet cinnamon scent. They've always been close - or as close as different Houses would get - Ron and he would often study with Luna and Hermione for various classes or group up for projects. When she'd burst into their impromptu Defence lesson last night and started praising his Defence talents, well, he'd certainly never felt butterflies in his stomach when anyone else talked to him like that. Not even Cho.

A waving hand interrupted his thoughts. He scanned up the length of the arm, finally landing on the face of Cho Chang, smiling brightly at him, which he responded with a small smile and a wave of his own.

"Again, Harry?" Ron groaned. "At least she looked at you this time. C'mon, eat or we'll be late for Herbology." Harry grunted and started piling up his plate as well.

After the two had finished their breakfast, they headed out towards the courtyard, walking to the greenhouses. The greenhouse had barely come into view when they heard a voice calling out from their left.

"Over here, class! We're starting here today!" Professor Sprout said, waving her arms over her head.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, "I thought all the dangerous plants had to be kept in the greenhouse."

"Beats me," Ron replied. They walked towards Professor Sprout as some of their other classmates came, the same confused look on their face. Behind Professor Sprout was a large array of potted plants, most of which looked like ordinary flowers. They came in every shape and size and would have put Petunia's small garden to shame. Harry didn't even know this many flowers existed.

"Today I will be teaching uses of various flowers, their effects and uses," Professor Sprout began. "Normally, I would not have grown these, but someone," she broke off, coughing several times before recovering, "decided that they would need flowers. I'd like you to first take a look at all the flowers and see which ones you recognize." The class dispersed through the field and a chatter broke out.

"Fat load of good this sunflower'll do against deatheaters, eh?" Ron said, as he and Harry approached the field.

"Yeah, can't believe Umbridge is - " Harry began.

"Oh my god!" a voice to their right squealed, "I absolutely _love_ tulips." Harry started, looked up, and saw Cho twirl a deep red tulip on her fingers as she batted her eyelids in his direction.

"Girls," Ron groaned, "leave it to them to think flowers are more important than venomous tentacula." He signalled to Harry and they quickly strolled to the other side of the field, hopefully with fewer flower enthusiasts. A new voice floated over.

"So Hermione, do you have a favorite?" Luna asked as she peered at a large violet flower.

"Er, not really, but if I had to choose, I think I prefer the hydrangeas the most," Hermione replied, pointing out a pot carrying beautiful light-blue hydrangeas.

"C'mon, we're not safe in the field," Ron said, "I think we've seen enough." Harry nodded in agreement and followed Ron out, hesitating for a split second to memorize what a hydrangea looked like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Ron is definitely going to be more perceptive here. Also, fair warning, the Cho bashing will be getting worse (or, better?).


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

_Late December. The Room of Requirement._

Harry looked around the room, extremely pleased with the performance of everyone. It had been hard work planning and teaching students from every House and every year, but it had been worth every ounce of effort, as he watched Neville blast knock Ron onto a mound of pillows with a powerful Stunning spell.

"Nice one, Neville!" he called out.

"Thanks!" Neville replied, grinning. "I think I've really gotten the hang of it now. What're we going to learn next?"

In truth, everyone was learning so fast Harry was almost running out of things to teach them.

"I - uh, not actually sure, actually," Harry admitted. "I've done almost everything I know already. The Room has a bunch of books, but finding spells that are useful, safe and at our level takes a long time."

"Do you need help researching spells to learn?" a voice behind him asked. Harry turned and saw Hermione walking to where he and Neville stood. She continued, "You're right: the Room provides so many great books! I've already read through a couple of them, and I think there's a couple that would prove useful to students at our level."

"You've already gone through them? That's amazing!" Harry said. He'd been so busy he'd barely been able to make it past the first chapter for most books. "Do you, er," Harry began, suddenly nervous as he gazed into a pair of warm brown eyes, "want to go over them? Say like after today's meeting?"

"Of course, Harry!" She replied with laughter creeping into her voice, and his stomach did a small flip, "Why else would I tell you that? Well, I'll meet you afterwards." Harry nodded, and she went back to practice.

"Alright, everyone switch partners!" Harry announced to the room after a sharp whistle. People shuffled around for a bit and the spellcasting resumed. He walked around from pair to pair, helping correct wand movements, enunciation, and giving advice wherever needed. After another hour of practice, he felt it was about time to wrap up.

"Ok, let's stop!" He yelled out. Once everyone had stopped casting and the last few people recovered from their stuns, he continued. "Great job, everyone! I'm impressed by how far everyone has gotten. That hag Umbridge won't know what hit her during our practical exams." Several people cheered. "I hope everyone has a happy holiday!"

With that, people slowly filed out of the Room, wishing each other a good holiday. He spotted Ron walking to his side from the other side of the room and waved him over.

"Great work, mate!" Ron exclaimed, "I reckon you'd be an amazing Defence teacher if you wanted to. Anyway," Ron glanced at the middle of the quickly emptying room, unnoticed by Harry, where Cho stood alone, "I think you have someone to meet, so I'll see you back at the common room," Ron finished with a wink.

"Sure, I'll see you there," Harry agreed. He'd almost forgotten he was supposed to meet Hermione afterwards! He glanced around the room searching for her familiar form, but was cut short as Cho approached him.

"Harry! Thank you so much for teaching me these advanced spells," Cho gushed, as she came even closer, a seductive smile forming on her lips. "You're so great at Defence, Quidditch - everything."

"Er, thanks," Harry stammered. His heart thumped hard as he looked at Cho and saw her in greater detail than ever before. Her smooth black hair framed her face perfectly, her dark eyes held a mischievous glint, and her lips curled into a suggestive form.

"Harry," she breathed, and he felt their hands connect as she tugged him closer. He inhaled her sweet perfume and his brain seemed to short-circuit. He'd daydreamed about moments like these, but for some reason he could not identify, something felt... off. For whatever reason, though, he stood to the ground, mobile as a stone statue.

 _BANG_.

Harry head snapped up, looking for the source of the noise. Glancing to the left, he saw a brown haired witch hastily picking up a stack of books on the way to the door, and he recalled their meeting.

"Hermione! Wait!" Harry called, but she was already out the door.

"Sorry, I have to go," Harry said to Cho as he hastily disentangled their hands and separated himself mere inches from Cho. He hurried across the room, grabbed his bag, gave a quick "Happy holidays" to Cho, who had not moved, and exited.

_Minutes ago. The Room of Requirement._

"Happy holidays!" Hermione called out to her classmates as they started to leave. She herself was tired, but was satisfied by the amount she'd learned today. Harry really was a great teacher, she thought. She was happy that she'd be able to help find more spells for them all to learn. Turning to the bookshelf, she picked up several more interesting titles, and then turned to find Harry.

There, in the center of the room, stood Harry and Cho, a mistletoe dangling above their heads. Harry looked awestruck as Cho slowly moved to bring them closer, their heads inching together.... Of course, she thought, Harry had always and would always like popular, pretty girls like Cho. How had she deluded herself into thinking his random glances in her direction meant anything? He was likely just shocked by the mess of her hair.

She turned around and headed toward the exit, fuming to herself, not noticing a stray pillow on the ground.

 _BANG_.

She hit the ground along with several books.

"Hermione?" She heard a voice call. "Wait!" it said. Fat chance, she thought, go have your fun, Harry. She scrambled up, books in hand, and slipped out the door as fast as humanly possible.

Five minutes later, she was safely seated in her favorite chair at the back of the library. She pulled out the Defence books and began to take notes, trying to rid her mind of Harry and Cho and what they were doing now.

"Hey," Hermione looked up from her book and saw Harry standing in front of her. "Couldn't have waited for me?" he joked.

Hermione stared; he must've left immediately after to get here that quickly.

"Sorry, I was going to find you after the meeting finished but Cho - er," Harry said. Had he really just left Cho there, she wondered. She wasn't one to pry, but curiosity got the best of her.

"What happened with Cho?" She asked conversationally.

"Er, she kinda came at me after the meeting," Harry said, avoiding her eyes, "I wasn't sure what to do, but I couldn't really move for some reason, but then you dropped your books and I finally snapped out of it."

Hermione sighed. Were all boys this thick? Green eyes finally met brown, and she took pity on the confused expression on his face.

"You were under a mistletoe," she said.

"Oh." She watched his face as it comprehended the information, morphing into shock, surprise, and then - confusion again? Boys were hopeless, she decided.

"Anyway, now that you're here, let's go through some of the spells which I found." Hermione said.

"Yeah, sure," Harry agreed, looking relieved at the change of conversation. Harry looked around, but finding no other setas, dropped into her cushy chair next to her. Should have gotten another set, Hermione thought, but if we're going over the same thing being next to each other wouldn't be the worst thing.

Harry looked over the table strewn with papers and textbooks. It had been an exhausting hour of work, but with Hermione's help, they'd been able to identify useful spells much faster than he did alone.

"So, we have _episkey_ for minor injuries, _diffendo_ for cutting objects, and _incendio_ for starting fires." Hermione summarized, highlighting three spells on her list. Harry nodded.

"Those will definitely be useful in a ton of different situations," Harry said, yawning. His arm came down around Hermione, whose face turned slightly pink. "You're brilliant, I would have never been able to find these spells myself." Hermione felt her face turn pink.

They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the final moments before the holidays. It was, Harry realised, much more enjoyable than his incident with Cho from before. Since Hermione had said there was a mistletoe above them, he could only conclude that Cho was trying to kiss him. That in itself didn't surprise him. What did was that he just didn't feel elated at that particular thought, which he thought he would have been.

But now, with Hermione in his arms, everything just felt so right. He smiled to himself, recalling Hermione's enthusiasm in books and research, the way her eyes sparkled when finding a new bit of useful information, the way her curly hair flowed wildly around her, the faint musk of cinnamon emanating from her.... Her voice shook him out of his thoughts.

"Well, we should probably get going, curfew is in ten minutes," Hermione said. Harry nodded, still deep in thought.

They packed their things and walked together to the entrance of the library before parting ways at the first set of stairs. Instead of continuing up, Harry ducked into a classroom and grabbed his invisibility cloak. He slipped past the main doors and crept outside, heading towards the greenhouses, but then took a sharp left.

" _Lumos_ ," Harry whispered, as he poured over the various flowers within the field. Finally, finding the blue hydrangeas that Hermione had pointed out weeks ago, he plucked one from its pot. He considered writing a note for a second, but was never great with words, and realised Hermione would likely recognize his handwriting after all his note taking. Hopefully a lone flower would do, he mused.

A quick call to Dobby later, the flower had been placed atop Hermione's bedside table.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Sorry, House-elf fans, wasn't sure how else Harry was to access Hermione's room in the Ravenclaw tower. I'm also not quiet sure what sound a person and books hitting the floor would make, I imagine the book covers hitting a hard surface would make a bang sound.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

_February 13th. Charms class._

Hermione strolled into the classroom, early, as always, and took a seat at the frontmost desk. Most of her classmates wouldn't be paying attention, with this being the last class of the day and the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow fast approaching. She knew better, though, OWLs were fast approaching and they needed every chance to study to pass.

She reached into her bag and lay her ink and quill neatly across the top of her desk. She grabbed _The Standard Book of Spells, Year 5_ from her bag, pausing slightly as her hand passed over _Advanced Defensive Charms: A History_. She blushed slightly. Flitwick had mentioned the book to the entire class several weeks ago when Hermione had asked about the origins of a charm, but it was a highly sought after book as it contained information about many powerful charms lost over the years. She remembered walking into her dorm one night and finding the book placed neatly atop her bedside table, accompanied her favorite blue flower.

Ever since finding the first hydrangea, she'd been cautiously elated that someone could possibly like her, but as the days passed and her admirer made no move to reveal themself, she grew increasingly frustrated.

As her classmates finally arrived and filed into their seats, Hermione looked around her, wondering who it was. She had refrained from trying tracking spells out of respect to the person who clearly wanted to remain secret and it was driving her mad.

"Settle down, settle down," Professor Flitwick called from the front of the room as the bell rang. "Today we will be starting a very important topic: imbuing. Usually when you cast a spell, it must come directly from your wand. However, it is possible to imbue objects with a particular spell, after which it will carry some properties of that spell. Watch carefully."

Professor Flitwick picked up a book on her desk, pointed his wand at it, and said " _Imbuere lumos_!"

The class gasped as the book glowed brightly before their eyes for several moments before Flitwick set the book down and it returned to its normal state.

"Now, each of you will attempt to do that on your own textbook. The more powerful your _imbuere_ , the brighter the book will glow."

The volume in the classroom grew as everyone began casting the spell and tried to make their book glow. With ten minutes left in the class, everyone's textbooks were still the same shade, naturally lit by the sun streaming through the window.

Hermione was frustrated. It had been an hour and she _still_ had accomplished nothing. Normally, she would have mastered the spell by this point in class. Suddenly, a passage floated to the forefront of her mind: 

_When attempting Charms on inanimate objects, one must strive to keep a calm mind. Unlike certain curses which depend on the caster's emotional urgency, excess input from the user will disrupt a charm's effect._

_Advanced Defensive Charms_ , she recalled with a start. She took several deep breaths, and closed her eyes for a moment.

" _Imbuere lumos_ ," Hermione incanted, trying for the twentieth time. To her surprise, a faint glow began to emanate from the pages of her textbook.

"Well done, Miss Granger!" Professor Flitwick exclaimed, peering at her textbook. "Ten points to Ravenclaw."

"Nice one, Hermione," Harry said from behind her. She turned around to see the green eyed wizard with an impressed expression. His textbook lay on the table, haphazardly placed face down while open, a byproduct of its owner's frustration.

"I still can't do it," Harry said, running a hand through his hair. Boy, he looked _hot_ when he did that. _Woah, calm down Granger,_ she thought to herself.

"Oh, please," a voice to her left said, "She spends all day holed up in the library, studying months in advance. She'd probably be happy locked in a cupboard all term if she had the right books. Anyway, Harry, are you doing anything for Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Cho said, her voice morphing from annoyed to sugary sweet. Weeks later, Cho definitely had still not forgiven her for ruining her moment with Harry, but didn't seem to blame Harry at all.

Hermione glanced back at Harry, who's expression had turned ice cold in the span of Cho's speech. His wand arm had jerked up from the pointing at his textbook to Cho's general direction. 

"You know," he said, the warmth in his voice disappearing completely. His green eyes flicked toward Hermione before he continued, "I already have plans for Hogsmeade."

The bell rang. In an instant, Harry had packed all his things and stormed out the door. Hermione stared after her friend. Cho's insults were a dime a dozen to her, what really bothered her was why Harry's demeanor had shifted so drastically. She'd gotten to know him well over the past several weeks in their meetings to plan lessons for the Defence club, and he'd always been warm and kind.

She hurriedly packed her things as well and rushed after Harry.

_Several minutes later. The Library_

Harry stormed into the library and made a beeline to the cushy chair in the back. Ever since he and Hermione had met there for their meetings, he'd grown fond of the area. It was secluded and quiet, providing a good space for him to think deeply without being interrupted.

Over the holiday's he'd thought about the moment with Cho. He wasn't sure why he'd frozen up and why the moment had felt so weird, even artificial. Ron had called him an idiot for messing that up, but informed him that Cho wasn't one to give up easily. Ron was right; returning to Hogwards in January, Cho had resumed her flirting with him, and he finally recognized it. Harry had been hoping something would happen with them, but his Gryffiandorian courage apparently did not extend to asking girls out. He had almost mustered up the courage to ask Cho just minutes ago in Charms, but Cho had splashed cold water all over that moment.

Memories of his childhood flashed through his mind. The cramped, dusty cupboard which he spent his entire childhood before Hagrid had finally found him. The years of bullying Dudley had put him through, both at home and at school. The lack of proper human contact, the isolation, and the overall terrible thing that his early childhood was.

And that she had directed those insults to Hermione! After working so closely with Hermione, hours and hours in the library pouring over textbook after textbook into the early morning hours, Harry had gotten to know Hermione very well. Her relentless enthusiasm for knowledge and her determined attitude that enabled them to find useful spells long after he would've retired to bed. And of course, he thought, Hermione's golden curls, cute smile, warm brown eyes, and sweet cinnamon scent. He inhaled deeply, sighing as the smell wafted through his nose, as if she was right next to him.

"Harry?" a voice asked. His head jerked up and he spotted Hermione standing in front of him, more beautiful than in his memories.

"Are you ok?" she asked, dropping in next to him. "I've never seen you like that before."

"I'm fine."

"I know you well enough to know that you're not."

A pause.

"You can talk to me about anything," Hermione said in a soft voice. Harry looked into her eyes and became lost in the swirling pools of compassion and caring. He wanted to just let to, to tell her everything, but it wouldn't be fair to her. He opted for something more direct.

"Cho's a bloody bastard," he said. Hermione opened her mouth as if she was going to scold him, but closed it. Instead, she grabbed him into a tight hug which he gladly accepted.

"I know," she whispered in his ear. He smiled, enjoying her form in his arms, before they reluctantly broke apart.

_Late evening. The Owlery._

Harry checked the piece of parchment, reviewing his handiwork.

_Dear Hermione,_

_Please meet me in the Quidditch pitch, 8 am._

_Yours_

He had done his best to alter his handwriting, and decided it was good enough. He beckoned for a non-descript school owl to come down, earning a glare from Hedwig, and attached the letter and the trademark blue hydrangea to the owl's leg, and threw it out the window. Laying in waste bin in the corner of the room was a piece of parchment, where at the top left it had inscribed:

_Cho,_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I wanted this fic to be relatively angst-less, so Harry doesn't reveal to Hermione about the Dursley's yet. Plus, they're close but I don't think they're close enough just yet. Hermione is still able to help comfort Harry, though, even if she doesn't know the exact problem.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

_February 14th, early morning. Ravenclaw Girls Dormitory._

Hermione got up from her bed with a smile on her face. She had gotten the latest note from her anonymous correspondent late last night, and it seemed as if she was finally going to meet him. Eight in the morning was definitely early for many of her classmates, but as she regularly got up at seven to start her day, it was no issue.

She used the bathroom, got dressed, and put on her robes. She checked the time: 7:45. Perfect. She headed to the door, pausing as she ducked into the bathroom and decided to check her appearance one last time. She flushed; this mysterious person would have her acting like Lavender soon!

She walked down several flights of stairs and into the Great Hall, where several other early risers were eating breakfast. Passing them, she slipped out the front door and began the trek to the Quidditch field, her eyes peeled for any people.

The sun had finally risen high by the time she reached the entrance of the pitch illuminating the stands. Hermione stood on the pitch as she looked around. Doubt slowly crept into her mind; was this all a prank by Malfloy?

Suddenly, she saw movement in the corner of her eye. A figure was flying high above in the sky against the sun. Hermione couldn't quite see who it was yet. She gasped as the figure flew even faster, twirling and looping with seemingly no direction.

Hermione squinted again, and gasped slightly as she realised that the broom seemed to be leaving a trail. She couldn't make out what it said; it looked like a bunch of scribbles. The figure dropped down several meters and traced out a tall _V_. She suddenly recognized the scribbles on top:

**BE MY**

Her heart beat jumped up a notch. Could it be, she wondered. She held her breath as the figure spelled out the remaining letters.

**BE MY**

**VALENTINE**

Hermione gave a girlish giggle, elated at the elaborate proposal. A large smile spread across her face. The figure suddenly went into a steep dive and rocketed toward where she was. In seconds, it was at ground level and it pulled expertly up to land right in front of her. The sun was shining directly behind him, and Hermione still could not make out who it was.

Hermione walked toward him and her eyes widened in shock as she saw who it was.

"Hey," Harry said, giving her a lopsided grin. She kept staring in shock. Did Harry really ask to be her valentine? They'd grown close over the past weeks, but he'd been clearly focused on Cho for most of the year. Yet, there Harry stood, his black hair flying elegantly in the wind and his emerald eyes locked onto hers with a hopeful expression.

"Well?" Harry asked again, a tinge of nervousness suddenly creeping into his voice. He gestured at the words spelled out behind him. Hermione smiled at herself. Of course she would say yes, but she had to have her own fun first.

"Is there a question I need to answer?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Yeah," Harry said, glancing behind him again to look at his handiwork. Drats, he'd forgotten the question mark. He'd have to do this the hard way.

"willyouweemevalentine?" Harry tried, flushing as it came out nearly unintelligibly. His face grew red; he wasn't sure how much longer he'd survive here.

"What was that?" Hermione asked again, a grin creeping onto her face as Harry's face turned even redder.

"Will. You. Be. My. Valentine!?" Harry shouted at her and sent her a mean glare.

"Oooh," Hermione said. She paused and bit her lip for a moment. "I'd love to, Harry!"

"You're the worst," Harry said. Still smiling, Hermione grabbed Harry into a hug.

_February 14th, evening. Hogwarts Entrance._

Harry helped Hermione down from the carriage. They'd finally arrived back at Hogwarts after a fun day in Hogsmeade.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said. "It was really fun spending the day with you!"

Harry grinned. They both had stupid smiles on their face. He'd greatly enjoyed Hermione's company. She was interesting and easy to be around outside of class, contrary to all of Cho's comments. They walked up the stairs into the Great Hall, where they finally separated.

He started as he felt her hand leave his. Being with Hermione had felt so right, Harry wasn't sure he'd be happy as he was today without Hermione by his side. Suddenly, the weekly planning sessions and couple classes he had with her didn't seem enough. He steeled up his Gryffandorian courage which had left him the past several months, and asked.

"Hermione," he said. Her head tilted in response, a questioning expression on her face but a knowing look in her eyes. "Will you be my girlfriend?" He asked strangely calm.

"Of course," Hermione said with a sweet smile and reached for his hand.

They stared into each other's eyes and ignored the rush of students around them returning to their dorms. Can I? Harry asked within his mind. Hermione gave an imperceptible nod of her head. Harry wrapped a hand around Hermione's head, leaned forward, and shut his eyes.

His lips met Hermione's and an electrifying shock shot through Harry's entire body. Her lips were so soft, he thought, as he brought himself even closer to her. The noisy chatter of students and whistles soon left his years and a million sensations of Hermione's taste, her scent, the feel of her body, shot through him all at once. They were both lost in the moment; a second seemed like an eternity.

"Harry, Hermione," a deep voice from their left said. They hastily broke, both red in the face. Dumbledore was looking at them, a twinkle in his sky blue eyes.

"Perhaps a place more private would be suitable," he said, and departed with a swish of robes.

Harry looked at Hermione with a sheepish expression on his face.

"Oops," he said.

"We're prefects!" Hermione said, scandalized. We're lucky it was Professor Dumbledore that found us. We have to make sure the students are back in their dorms now."

"Fine. But meet me in the Room after?" Harry asked. Hermione stared. They could have lost their badges for that, and Harry wanted to continue right after. Her rational side was shouting _no!_

"Of course." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Harry had imbued his broom with a spell so it would leave a trail, forgot to mention that. I would've loved to go into more detail with Hogsmeade, but I ran out of time hehe.


End file.
